The following terms are commonly found when describing the process of making of denim blue jeans.
ABRASION
Process of making garments look worn and aged by scraping or rubbing the surface of the fabric causing abrasion.
AUTHENTIC
This is a term used to describe specific characteristics of the first blue jeans--traditional fabric weaves and styling details.
CAST
A term that describes shading. Depending on the method and type of dye used, indigo denim can have a black, brown, gray, green, red, or yellow cast to it.
CELLULOSE ENZYME WASH
The color of denim fabric is only on the outside of the yarn so when the denim is washed in a cellulose enzyme bath the indigo is removed along with the fiber. When the desired color has been achieved, either changing the alkalinity of the bath or heating the water stops the enzymes from reacting. A rinsing and softening cycle follows.
CHAIN STITCHING
Looped stitches form a chain-like pattern, pulling the denim at slightly different tensions on either side. This creates the distinctive ‘roping’ unique to worn indigo-dyed denim.
DESIZING
Desizing is an amylase enzyme rinse process used to soften the denim, allowing it to have a desired drape.
DIPS
Used to describe fabric or yarn when they are immersed in dye. Indigo yarns are usually dipped in an indigo bath six times.
DUAL RING-SPUN
Also called “ring X ring”. Signifies a denim weave in which both the warp and the weft threads are made of ring-spun yarn. Creates a much softer and textured hand than both open-end and regular (single) ring-spun denim.
ENZYMES
Enzymes are proteins used in textile processing, mainly in the finishing of fabrics and garments.
ENZYME WASH
Considered the environmentally sound way to stone wash jeans. Rather than using pumice stones, organic enzymes (proteins) are used that eat away at the indigo. Jeans finished using enzymes tend to be stronger than those broken down by traditional stone washing, as the fabric is not subjected to the same level of abuse.
FINISHING
The techniques or processes performed on the denim that gives the jeans a unique look.
GARMENT DYE
A dyeing process performed on finished garments, as opposed to a yarn dye, which takes place prior to the weaving of yarn. When you see pocket linings or labels that are the same color as the self-fabric, the garment was likely garment dyed.
HAND
The way a fabric feels and handles--a determining factor in fabric suitability for a specific end use. The hand can be described as crisp, soft, drapable, smooth, springy, stiff, cool, warm, rough, hard, limp, soapy etc. Finishing and garment wash affect the final hand of a fabric.
HANK DYEING
This is a very special dyeing process. Yarns are loosely arranged in skeins or hanks, hung over a rung and immersed in a dye bath. They are dipped in and out and left to oxidize in the air between each dip, giving the yarns a natural irregularity of patina and caste. This method enhances color penetration and allows the yarns to retain a softer, loftier feel.
INDIGO
The dye used for denim, taken from the indigofera tinctoria plant. Natural indigo has a slightly red cast.
MICROSANDING
A series of cylindrical rolls in a horizontal arrangement, either wrapped with an abrasive paper or chemically coated with an abrasive , are used to create a soft, sueded hand. The denim is pulled over the face of the sand rollers creating a raised surface finishing.
OXIDATION
Occurs when oxygen and another substance chemically join. This occurs when indigo yarn comes out of the bath between dips.
PLY
All yarns are single ply unless twisted with another yarn. Plied yarns are stronger. The method of twisting and length of each yarn is a major determinant in the ultimate look and feel of the finished fabric.
RING DYEING
Describes a characteristic unique to indigo dye--only the outer ring of the fiber in the yarn is dyed while the inner core remains white.
ROPE DYEING
Considered the best possible method to dye indigo yarns. Threads of denim yarn are twisted into a rope before a sequence of being dipped into a bath of indigo dye, followed by exposure to air, multiple times. The frequency determines the ultimate shade of blue.
SANDING/EMERSING
A fabric finishing process where fabrics are sanded with real sandpaper to make the surface soft without hair. It can be performed before or after dying.
SANFORIZATION
A pre-shrinking fabric process that limits residual fabric shrinkage to under 1%. The process includes the stretching and manipulation of the denim cloth before it is washed.
SANDBLASTING
A laundry process performed before washing in which jeans are shot with guns of sand in order to abrade them and cause a worn appearance.
SELVAGE
Selvage is the narrow woven edge running parallel to the warp that prevents the denim from raveling. Authentic selvage is rare; it is made on small, antique looms exclusive to Japanese denim mills. It is highly desirable because it is considered authentic, thus stronger, and has more character than regular, non-selvage denim.
SLASHER DYEING
This is one of three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.
SHADE BLANKET
Fabric is cut from each roll of fabric and sewn together with roll numbers on the back of each roll. This is an important tool in cutting apparel made from denim to ensure that garments from the same shade group are cut.
SHRINKAGE
Traditionally, before denim is woven the threads are treated with wax or resin to stiffen them, making them easier to weave. When dry/raw/unwashed denim is washed for the first time, the fibers constrict and the denim shrinks. Until the third wash, all raw denim will shrink to some degree upon immersion in water.
SHED
During the weaving process, this is the opening formed by raising and lowering the warp yarns on a loom. The shed opening is what the weft yarns are passed through to complete the weaving interlace.
SHUTTLE
The device that carries the weft yarn across the loom in vintage shuttle looms. Selvage denim can only be woven using a shuttle loom.
SILHOUETTE
This is the shape, or profile, of a garment.
SIZING
This refers to the starch, gelatine glue, or wax added to fabrics in the finishing stage to improve touch or weight and help fabric laying in the cutting phase. Denim fabrics, for example, can have almost one ounce of sizing.
SLASHER DYEING
One of three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.
SLIVER
In the yarn manufacturing process, a sliver refers to the loose, soft, untwisted rope of cotton fibers that is produced using the carding machine.
SLUB
Refers to thick or heavy places in the yarn. Slubs and other inconsistencies are common in denim produced on vintage shuttle looms.
STONEWASHING
A process that physically removes colour and adds contrast.
TATE-OCHI
This is a Japanese term referring to occurrences of ‘Iro-ochi’ forming in vertical lines in vintage denim. Because the thread width is not uniform in vintage denim, the color fades most where the thread is the thickest. This creates a white or extremely faded thread along a single vertical indigo thread.
TWILL
The diagonal lines formed by the weave.
USED WASH
Refers to a “placed” abrasive effect or sandblasting, made individually on each garment in special areas like the knees, pockets, thighs, or rear.
WARP
The vertical yarns woven into the weft yarns. They usually have more twist and are stronger than weft yarns. In denim, it runs parallel to the selvage and is dyed indigo.
WEAVE
The combination of warp and weft yarns woven into the weft yarns to produce different weave designs. The warp face designs used in the denim are called out by the number of weft yarns that the warp ends pass over followed by the number of weft yarns they pass under. Some of the most common denim weaves are 3x1 and 2x1 can be made in left or right-hand twill directions. 3x1 right-hand twill is the most common design.
WEFT
The un-dyed, crosswise filling yarns used in denim weave.
WEIGHT
Denim is traditionally graded by its weight per yard of fabric at a 29-inch width. Most modern jeans are around 14oz.
WHISKERING
A fading of the ridges increases in the crotch area and back of the knees, which gives the appearance of aged denim. It can also be inverse- dark creased in faded denim.
YARN DYE
Refers to fabric in which the individual yarns are dyed prior to weaving- denim is a yarn dyed fabric.
ZIP
The alternative to the button fly, first used for jeans in 1926. The innovation was considered hazardous at first, but eventually became a huge success.